David Vergote, PhD, MSc

Area of Study / Keywords

Pedagogy behavioral ecology neurodegenerative disorders cognitive aging CSJ Researchers - Health Sciences

About

Although my initial work (for my MSc) was in oncology (breast cancer), I later fell in love with the field of neuroscience when I used a proteomic analysis to examine the innate immunity mechanisms within the nervous system of the medicinal leech during my doctoral work. I obtained my MSc and my PhD from the University of Lille (France). My career then made me cross the Atlantic Ocean to conduct my postdoctoral research first at the University of Calgary then at the University of Alberta where I explored the mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disorders such as HIV-associated dementia and Alzheimer's disease and underlying cognitive aging.

Having first taught during my PhD, I since diversified my pedagogical approaches teaching biology and psychology courses, in French and in English, at MacEwan University, in the department of Biological Sciences of the University of Alberta and, since 2010 (or 2011 full-time), at the Faculté Saint-Jean.

I am now a Teaching Professor at the Faculté Saint-Jean where I am lucky to share my passion for biology and psychology with our students through a wide range of courses.

Research

My research work is varied and is currently centered around 4 topics:

1. Highlighting the potential of bacteria species for biorestoration in undergraduate ecology labs,
2. Behavioral analysis of the leech in response to the pollution of the environment by the exploration of oil sands. I am currently developing this project based on interesting preliminary results,
3. Genetics of cognitive aging. This work is done with Drs. Roger Dixon et Peggy McFall of the Department of Psychology of the University of Alberta,
4. Development of a serious game-based pedagogical tool for the teaching of anatomy. I am co-Principal Investigator on this project led by Dr. Martine Pellerin of the Faculté Saint-Jean in collaboration with Dr. Eleni Stroulia of the Department of Computing Science.

Examples of published work

• Heal M, McFall GP, Vergote D, Jhamandas JH, Westaway D, Dixon RA. (2022). Bridging Integrator 1 (BIN1, rs6733839) and Sex are moderators of vascular health predictions of memory aging trajectories. J Alzheimers D. 89(1):265-281.
• Vergote D, Ogandaga M, Fernandez Cervantes V, Pierce G, Pellerin M & Stroulia E. (2021). Students Voice in the Design and Development of an Interactive and Bilingual 3D Platform for Guided Anatomy Learning. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 508-513). United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
• Pellerin M, Vergote D, Cervantes VF, Ogandaga M, DeJesus R, Stroulia E. (2020). Designing an online interactive and bilingual 3D learning environment for human anatomy education. In T. Bastiaens & G. Marks (Eds.), Proceedings of Innovate Learning Summit 2020 (pp. 581-590). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
• Chung J, Phukan G, Vergote D, Mohamed A, Maulik M, Andrew RJ, Thinakaran G, Posse de Chaves E, Kar S. Endosomal-lysosomal cholesterol sequestration by U18666A differentially regulates APP metabolism in normal and APP overexpressing cells. Mol Cell Biol. 2018 May 15:38(11), pii:e00529-17.
• DeCarlo CA, MacDonald SW, Vergote D, Jhamandas J, Westaway D, Dixon RA. Vascular health and genetic risk affect mild cognitive impairment status and 4-year stability: Evidence from the Victoria Longitudinal Study. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2016 Nov:71(6), 1004-1014.
• Sapkota S, Vergote D, Westaway D, Jhamandas J, Dixon RA. Synergistic associations of COMT and BDNF with executive function in aging are selective and modified by APOE. Neurobiol Aging 2015 Jan;36(1):249-56.
• Vardarajan B*, Vergote D*, Tissir F*, Logue M, Yang J, Daude N, Ando K, Rogaeva E, Lee J, Cheng R, Brion JP, Ghani M, Shi B, Baldwin CT, Kar S, Mayeux R, Fraser P, Goffinet AM, St George-Hyslop P, Farrer L, Westaway D. Role of p73 in Alzheimer disease: Lack of association in mouse models or in human cohorts. Mol Neurodegener 2013 Feb 15;8(1):10.
• Boidin-Wichlacz C, Vergote D, Slomianny C, Jouy N, Salzet M, Tasiemski A. Morphological and functional characterization of leech circulating blood cells: role in immunity and neural repair. Cell Mol Life Sci, 2012 May; 69(10): 1717-31.
• Vergote D, Butler GS, Ooms M, Cox JH, Silva C, Hollenberg MD, Jhamandas JH, Overall CM, Power C. Proteolytic processing of SDF-1 reveals a new receptor specificity mediating HIV-associated neurodegeneration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2006 Dec 12; 103(50): 19182-7.
• Vergote D, Sautière PE, Vandenbulcke F, Vieau D, Mitta G, Macagno ER, Salzet M. Up-regulation of Neurohemerythrin expression in the central nervous system of the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, following septic injury. J Biol Chem, 2004 Oct 15; 279(42): 43828-37.
• Vergote D, Cren-Olive C, Chopin V, Toillon RA, Rolando C, Hondermarck H, Le Bourhis X. (-)-Epigallocatechin (EGC) of green tea induces apoptosis of human breast cancer cells but not of their normal counterparts. Breast Cancer Res Treat, 2002 Dec; 76(3): 195-201.

Book chapters

• Vergote D. Apprendre à faire face au VIH : les stratégies adoptées en Afrique du Sud. In: St-Amand J (ed) Amélioration de l’éducation en Afrique subsaharienne : Mieux répondre aux besoins des acteurs locaux, perspectives multidisciplinaires. Presses de L’Université Laval. 2020
• Vergote D, Overall CM and Power C. Chemokine proteolytic processing in HIV neuropathogenesis. In: Meucci O (ed) Chemokine receptors and NeuroAIDS: Beyond the co-receptor function and links to other neuropathies. Springer, New York. 2010

Teaching

Courses taught:

Faculté Saint-Jean:

• ANATE 140: Anatomie humaine
• ANATE 200: Morphologie humaine
• BIOCM 200: Introduction à la biochimie
• BIOCM 330: Acides nucléiques et biologie moléculaire
• BIOLE 207 Génétique moléculaire et Hérédité
• BIOLE 341: Écotoxicologie
• BIOLE 380: Analyse génétique des populations
• GENEQ 270: Fondations de génétique moléculaire
• BIOLE 107: Introduction à la biologie cellulaire
• BIOLE 201: Biologie cellulaire des eucaryotes
• BIOLE 108: Introduction à la diversité biologique
• BIOLE 208: Principes en écologie
• MICRE 133: Microbiologie médicale pour infirmières
• MICRE 265: Microbiologie générale
• PHYSE 152B: Physiologie
• PSYCE 104: Processus psychologiques de base
• PSYCE 275: Cerveau et comportement
• PSYCE 367: Perception
• PSYCE 377: Neuropsychologie humaine

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta:

• BIOL 381: A Planet in Crisis
• BIOL 495/595 then BIOL 310/510: Biology of Aging (Invited lecture)
• MICRB 265: General microbiology

MacEwan University:

• BIOL 201: Eukaryotic Cellular Biology I
• BIOL 205: Principles of Molecular Biology
• BIOL 207: Mendelian Genetics

Université de Lille (France):

• Protéomique (laboratoires de 2e année de MSc)
• Biologie animale des invertébrés (laboratoires de 2e année de BSc)
• Immunologie (laboratoires de 1ère année de MSc)